for ilie only institution dedicated to the cause of agri- 

 culture in the State. Let us therefore give the Massa- 

 chusetts Agricultural College our encouragement, as I 

 believe great good to our business will grow out of it. 



To be a good modern farmer one must have mechani- 

 cal skill, in order to manage well the various machines 

 now used on the farm, to enable him to detect and rem- 

 edy their faults and imperfections as they come from 

 the hands of the inventors and mechanics. It has re- 

 quired years of experience and close observation to bring 

 the plough, the mowing machine, and horse-rake to their 

 2:)resent state of perfection. Who but the intelligent 

 farmer that uses them, can so well suggest improve- 

 ments ? Scarcely an implement has been introduced, 

 ^that has not thus been improved. The old couplet, 



" He that by the plough would thrive 

 Himself must either hold or drive," 



may not be as literally true to-day as when Timothy 

 Pickering took the first premium, at the first plowing 

 match made by this Society, but it is necessary that he 

 ishould be able to regulate the guage of the plough, and 

 Mtch the team properly, for but very few of the hired 

 men of the present day can do it. If it is not necessary 

 for him to do all the work himself, it is necessary that 

 lie should know ho?r to do every part of it, that he may 

 properly direct others. 



The farmer to be most successful, must also be a mer- 

 chant, and be well booked up in the prices current, and 

 the state and prospect of the market, in the relation of 

 the supply to the demand for his products, in order to 

 Imow where, when, and how, to sell them, and also to 

 buy his supplies to the best advantage. The firmer too? 

 mav, when master of his position, like the merchant and 



